ATLANTA — State Sen. Burt Jones said he knew right away that Donald Trump was his guy, even as his peers predicted a short-lived campaign for the billionaire real estate developer and former reality TV star.

The Republican senator from Jackson endorsed Trump shortly after he announced his candidacy back in mid-June.

“The first thing (my colleagues) said was, ‘Oh, he’s going to flame out or fade away,’” Jones said this week. “And I just said, ‘Nah, guys, I think you’re wrong on this one. This guy is getting traction. You just wait.’”

Trump has since climbed his way to the top of the polls and stayed there, in spite of numerous controversies along the way — many of them related to his inflammatory comments on the stump.

One of those campaign stops took place more than a week ago in Macon, where Trump vowed to hit back when politically attacked and asked members of the audience whether he should only agree to participate in CNN’s debate if the network gives $5 million to veterans’ groups.

Jones said he made the case for having the campaign event in “the heart of Georgia.” He was on stage to help fire up the crowd that night. As many as 8,000 people attended the rally.

“He’s doing something that I don’t think anybody has seen in a long time in the political ranks,” Jones said during an interview.

Trump, he said, is tapping into the country’s pessimistic mood and offering “something different” that people seem to be craving. His message seems to particularly resonate in middle and south Georgia, Jones said.

“Sometimes it might not be the most politically correct — as they say — thing to say, but he doesn’t back down and he doesn’t apologize for it,” he said. “I think people are looking for that in a leader now.”

Trump made headlines again Monday when he released a statement calling for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”

His statement came one day after President Barack Obama gave a rare speech from the Oval Office that outlined his administration’s strategy for ISIS and urged tolerance in the wake of the mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif.

Jones said Tuesday that he had not read Trump’s statement, but as a country we’re in a “new arena,” he said.

“There’s no negotiating with terroristic groups. Their objective is to kill as many people as possible and mangle the rest, and that’s a scary scenario,” he said.

Jones said he expected Trump to head back to Georgia as soon as next month, calling the state a “a big prize” for candidates seeking the Republican nomination. Election Day in Georgia is March 1, when several other southern states will also participate in what has been dubbed the SEC Primary.

The national debt, international trade and the size of government were issues that Jones said pushed him toward Trump.

Another senator, Michael Williams, R-Cumming, has also endorsed him.

“A person like Donald trump is the man for the time because of what I see as the biggest issues in the country,” Jones said.

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.